Citation

Marais AAS, Dicks HJ. J. Forensic Sci. 2019; 64(1): 264-269.

Affiliation

Ballistics Section, Forensic Science Laboratory Western Cape, South African Police Service, Plattekloof, Parow, Cape Town, 7550, South Africa.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2019, American Society for Testing and Materials, Publisher John Wiley and Sons)

DOI

10.1111/1556-4029.13805

PMID

29758085

Abstract

A bystander claimed to have been shot by a police officer, and CT scans were used to match qualitative and quantitative aspects of the unremoved bullet with police issued 9 mm Luger ammunition. CT scan methodology proved a valid approach for the measurement of bullets based on calculated measurement capability and correlation with "gold standard" physical measurement by vernier caliper. Measurements regarding length and base diameter, as well as length/diameter ratio, were insufficient to unambiguously identify a specific caliber, or a bullet of specific mass within a caliber class. It was, however, possible to exclude a bullet of specific design and mass with well-characterized precision and accuracy values under selected CT scan conditions. A 9 mm Luger bullet (115 gr FMJ RN) was excluded from involvement in a shooting based on qualitative bullet shape combined with length, base, and ratio measurements of the bullet in-situ for the victim.

© 2018 American Academy of Forensic Sciences.

Language: en

Keywords

ballistics; bullet ratio; caliber determination; computed tomography; forensic science; measurement uncertainty; x-ray radiography